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Friday, October 28, 2016

Autumn Asters, Honey Bee and Capitol Columns at US National Arboretum

Happy floral Friday! Asters are one of the joys of autumn. I think this honey bee would agree.

This week at the U.S. National Arboretum the purple autumn asters are in full bloom.

The area by the capitol columns is a great place to view them.

The asters contrast nicely with the autumn foliage of nearby plants.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you this autumn and always!

Related posts:
Autumn bonsai tree foliage: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/10/autumn-bonsai-flowers-and-chrysanthemum.html
2013 Autumn bonsai foliage: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/autumn-bonsai-exhibit-at-us-national.html
Fall foliage at USNA: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/fall-foliage-at-us-national-arboretum.html

Friday, October 21, 2016

Grasshopper on Golden Chrysanthemums

Happy floral Friday! This neat grasshopper and I surprised each other when I was photographing our golden yellow chrysanthemums last week. The insect took off before I could get a second shot but one is better than none.

Thank you for visiting! I hope this autumn finds you well. May God bless you!

Related posts:
Pretty insects on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/03/pretty-insects-on-giant-red-zinnias-and.html
Tiny bee on cosmos: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/09/big-fat-raindrops-on-beautiful-flowers.html
Yellow finch on black eyed susans: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/08/yellow-finch-feeding-on-black-eyed.html

Friday, October 14, 2016

Delightful Dahlias in Early Autumn

Happy floral Friday and welcome to this bonus edition of "this week in my Maryland garden!" Often by this time of year all of my dahlias have been killed by frost but this year they're still blooming and I thought that was worth celebrating with a blog post.

I'm not sure of the actual name of this cute red and white bicolor dahlia but I think of it as my peppermint twist.

This pretty yellow and white bicolor dahlia isn't perfectly formed but it is still beautiful.

This burgundy dahlia plant has been producing beautiful flowers steadily since early spring.

I believe this is a Mr. Optimist bicolor dahlia. It started out with yellow tipped red petals and then faded to this pretty sunset color scheme. I think I cut it over a week ago and it's been in a vase by my computer ever since. The yellow came out more as the red faded.

I feel blessed to have dahlias still blooming in mid-October here in Maryland. It is delightful.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Summer dahlia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/09/bright-summer-flowers-dahlia-tithonia.html
Sunset dahlia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/06/bee-balm-sedum-sunset-dahlia-coreopsis.html
Raindrops on dahlia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/09/big-fat-raindrops-on-beautiful-flowers.html

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Sunflowers and Bees at McKee Beshers Wildlife Management Area

Happy wild Wednesday! I hope you enjoy my bee and sunflower photos from McKee Beshers Wildlife Management Area. Today was my second ever visit but I hope to return again.

I thought this bee in flight over the sunflower field was neat.

Some people bring ladders, chairs and stools but I just did the best I could with what God gave me.

It really is amazing to see so many sunflowers with bees buzzing about happily.

I feel blessed to have been able to enjoy such a beautiful experience. God is good!

Thank you for visiting! May God bless and keep you!

Related posts:
Battling bees and sunflowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/08/bees-fighting-over-sunflower-photo.html
Teddy bear sunflower: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/teddy-bear-sunflower-black-eyed-susan.html
Sunflower and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/sunflower-day-lilies-vinca-and-mystery.html

Friday, June 17, 2016

Bee Balm, Sedum, Sunset Dahlia, Coreopsis, and Pansy Flowers

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The pretty bee balm above started blooming this week. It's a miraculous survivor. Kind neighbors gave it to me three years ago. It bloomed just a tiny bit before something ate it down to the ground. Then last year a well meaning helper thought it was a weed and did his best to kill it. What little remained was eaten down to the ground. This year the foliage looks fantastic and the flowers are robust. Hopefully whatever ate it in previous years has moved on.

This yellow sedum is frommy kind friend Mary. Last year she let me take three tip cuttings from her beautiful plants and, by God's grace, they rooted and spread and now I have a little group of these beautiful plants. Hopefully they'll continue to spread and flower each year.

I thought the sunset dahlia had died but there's one nice flower on it and some buds forming.

The red coreopsis started blooming this week (that's a pink dahlia in the background) and they have made a few babies. Surprisingly, the babies have yellow flowers.

I found this tiny volunteer pansy plant hiding behind a bigger plant. I guess the shade from the large plant is keeping it alive despite the heat. I consider that another plant miracle.

In addition to what was already mentioned, our golden sundrops, lavender, butterfly bush (lavender and black knight) and snow on the mountain also started blooming this week. It's a fun time in my Maryland garden. Thank you to my kind friends and neighbors who share their garden abundance and thank you for visiting! May God bless them and you!

Related posts:
Mary's garden retreat: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/05/marys-amazing-garden-retreat.html
Little bees, big flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/little-bees-and-big-flowers-this-week.html
Missy's amazing garden: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/missys-marvelous-gardens.html

Friday, March 18, 2016

Primroses, Daffodils, and Flowering Quince

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" We might get snow this weekend but it feels like spring right now. My kind husband even bought me six new primroses so we'll have more colors to bring you if they survive the upcoming frost and potential snow. I will probably cover them on nights with frost to boost their chances of survival.

This week brings our first daffodils of the year. I love their bright yellow flowers.

The bright fushia primrose, featured last week, is still going strong.

We don't have a flowering quince bush but Mary does and she's generous enough to share. Thank you, Mary! You can see a tour of her backyard garden retreat here.

Here are a few more of our daffodils. Happiest spring wishes to you and yours. May God bless you!

Related posts:
Daffodil photos and poem: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/03/first-daffodil-of-year.html
Missy's garden: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/pink-bee-balm-copyright-by-phyllis.html
Mary's garden: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/05/marys-amazing-garden-retreat.html

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Pretty Butterflies and Fuzzy Bee for Wild Wednesday

Happy wild Wednesday! I hope these butterfly and bee photos from last summer in my Maryland garden brighten your day.

The giant zinnias were the star of the garden last summer. Bees, butterflies and small birds flocked to them and made me very happy.

The butterfly bushes also attracted a lot of insect wildlife.

It was great to be able to see butterflies almost every time I walked in the garden and I'm already looking forward to next summer's adventures in gardening and wildlife.

May God bless you this winter and always!

Related posts:
Butterflies & bees on purple coneflowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/butterflies-and-bees-love-purple.html
Brian Dering's Aruba wildlife photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/10/wildlife-in-aruba-photos-by-guest.html
Wild raccoon photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/wild-raccoon-in-national-arboretum.html

Friday, February 12, 2016

Blue Ribbon Winning Flowers

Happy Floral Friday! I found this post in my draft folder (it was supposed to have automatically posted in 2014 but obviously something went wrong) and figured today was as good day to share it. I hope these blue ribbon winning flowers brighten your day!

"I'm blessed by my county fair awarding at least 12 of my flowers blue ribbons this year! The red dahlia above is one of my actual flowers entered in the fair, photographed two days after the judging occurred. In the interest of sharing good photos of pretty flowers the rest of the photos below are representative of what I entered but not the actual blooms entered.

If you've been following my blog you know I love dahlias. The dahlias received the most blue ribbons (they have different categories for different size and color dahlias). I have only been growing them for a few years but I get a lot of joy from their vigorous flower output and variety of blooms.

The tithonia I grew from seed also won a blue ribbon. The bees, butterflies and moths love them.

This is actually a Mr. Lincoln rose, which I didn't enter as it wasn't opened yet at fair entry time but the pink hybrid tea rose I did enter won a blue ribbon. You can see a similar rose at the bottom of this post (it's the last photo).

The white cosmos I entered looked better than this one currently blooming in my garden but this is currently the only bloom on the plant.

What a fun blessing to have my Maryland garden recognized in such a way. If you're local the fair runs through Sunday and in addition to the flowers there are a lot of neat exhibits (bee keeping displays, chain saw carving, photography, 4H, animals, crafts, herbs, an 88 pound watermelon and more). May God bless all the fair volunteers and may He bless you too!

What is your favorite part of a county or state fair? Do you have a favorite fair memory to share? I'd love to hear it!"

Related posts:
Flowers, freeloaders and funkiness: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/flowers-freeloaders-and-funkiness-for.html
Raindrop flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/raindrop-drenched-rose-cosmos.html
Vibrant spring flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/dahlias-ranunculus-azaleas-lilacs-and.html
2013 County Fair results: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/09/county-fair-photos-haikus-and-results.html

Friday, October 9, 2015

Early Autumn Flowers & Foliage

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!"

I'm really thankful to have a few more giant dahlias to enjoy before frost hits.

The dahlias are making a nice comeback but other than that not much new is happening in our garden, flower wise. Rather than just share two photos this week, photos three through five in this post were taken at the US National Arboretum to give you some variety.

I love this unusual hydrangea and expect that it will remain pretty as it dries for winter.

One of the more unusual late summer/early autumn flowers is the purple sheen, which is usually covered in bees. Other names for it (from the tag at the Arboretum) include: "Erygium leaveworthii," "Leavensworth's eryngo," and "apiaceae."

We have one more chrysanthemum that hasn't bloomed yet but after that "this week in my Maryland garden" will likely be on hiatus until spring. Unless something exciting and unexpected happens. You never know!

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you this autumn and always!

Related posts:
Fancy dahlia with bee: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/10/neat-flowers-bees-and-sun-effects.html
Fall foliage and capitol columns: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/fall-foliage-and-capitol-columns-photos.html
Tree foliage: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/fall-foliage-at-us-national-arboretum.html

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Bees and Butterflies on Butterfly Bushes

Happy wild Wednesday! Butterfly bushes really do attract butterflies (and bees too).

The butterflies and bees don't seem to be picky about the flower color.

Or whether the flowers are in sun or shade.

But they do seem to have a preference for the newer blooms.

Maybe the nectar is sweeter on the younger flowers? I don't know. But I love seeing the bushes filled with bees and butterflies. There was also a monarch butterfly on the bushes but it was too fast and skittish for me to capture with my camera.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you and our dwindling bee and butterfly populations!

Related posts:
Cute critters on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/cute-critters-on-flowers.html
Brookside butterflies: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/08/brookside-gardens-wings-of-fancy.html
Butterfly blessings: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/01/happy-new-year-blessings-butterflies.html